Here I am at Metallica HQ a few hours before the 3rd Fillmore show. The guys are here doing some interviews, then they will jam for an hour or so, and after that roll down to the Fillmore. Tonight's opening act are The Depressor & The Flaming Androids.

Normally a day off on tour means a travel day, going to the next city. Playing four shows in San Francisco obviously makes a day off actually a day off. We will be back in business tomorrow for show three out of four. You can't complain about the setlist so far, right? What will happen at tomorrow's show, no one knows...

FILLMORE…NIGHT TWO: PART 1Wow, it’s turnin’ into one big shindig here. Friends everywhere (and I mean everywhere, from the front of the stage to the back of the balcony, there are faces we know and people we’ve seen and friends and people we know but can’t remember and people we know we’ve seen and who we remember, all of that and more!But I digress, so back to business and first things first…I read someone ask last night about the whole ‘did they rehearse for this’ thing. The answer is not really. Because these are their rehearsals. That’s why there are the odd few mistakes, the occasional mishap, the sorts of things that people who are short on confidence get aggravated with, but the sorts of things that people who are happy get over quickly. It’s funny, because I’m never too sure if the guys realize the control they have over the atmosphere in a building (n.b to self, must ask them that one day) but there’s no doubt that these days the positivity is a throbbing pulse through the camp. Which also further explains why last night was so exhilarating, and why already, tonight feels even looser. Remember, last night was the first proper show they’ve played in front of the public for too long, thus their nerves and stresses were alleviated too.And this is also why they’ve been wandering around the balcony here catching up with old friends beforehand. James looks relaxed, really relaxed, at ease and enjoying the whole rigaramol of live performance again. Lars is just exuding calm confidence, Kirk is like a young garage musician again and Rob is just flowing everywhere, one fluid mover who has made a seemless transition into Metalliworld.It is (of course) a packed house again. And as the AC/DC tape plays, arms thrust in the air, it really is loud, very loud, and as the words ‘Long Way To The Top’ come blaring out I ponder them with relevance to these chaps. I don’t think, on reflection, it was for Metallica, but I’ll tell you this; it’s been a long way to here, tonight, last night and tomorrow.

PART 2 - The final piece of this jigsaw has proven to be Robert. The lynch-pin, both musically (bass, rhyhtm, right?) and spiritually (flexible, mobile, just plain Goddam nice!). Jason Newsted, the warrior and talent that he always has been, was like an iron rod. A steel pin. And with such rigidity comes drill-like precision, stiffness and resolve without laughter or happiness. Robert is that same strength pin but made of rubber, flexible, he moves with things yet holds it all like the bassist does, energy, rawness, smiles and snarls. He has majorly helped allow this band to remember what it is to enjoy shows.I’m watching ‘Blackened’ as tonight’s opener from Big Mick’s board, and these are men re-born. Cliche? Not here. The riff sounds as fresh as when it was written, because there is no longer reserve about playing the fucking thing (n.b note to self, be sure to ask them if they did, before now, feel shy about these songs).Straight into ‘No Remorse’…James is jamming hard, smiling a lot more than he ever did, and then they hit the speed break…HAHAHAHAH and people ask if these guys can still do it at this pace? Fuck THEM for asking!…and did this band ever NOT have Trujillo? And a word about Kirk…he probably suffered more than anyone when Jason left, he was hurt, his feelings stung by the departure. And now he is in the best position Kirk could be in. Surfing buddy, rhythm pig, good soul…Kirk is playing with an invigoration I doubt even he thought would’ve e been possible 18 months ago…Bob Rock ( a spiritual, and creative, Godfather to them) would be proud of them right now. Ah come on then, let’s talk about Lars. God love him. Recently he’s been getting a little tired, a,little grumpy, a little (nervous?)…but here, now, he knows for SURE that this band is rock solid, pure, tough and for real again. He’s happier, I can see it, and I can also the devil twinkling in his eyes, the man who’s on a mission to show everyone who doubted (and there were many) that they were w-r-o-n-g.

PART 3Back to tonight. The set is re-arranged (of course) some new old stuff if you know what I mean, (The Thing That Should Not Be I forgot to how heavy that song was, I think we need to play that one on the tour, thatí a yes!-JH) and while I preferred the whole roaring fuck-em-all motordeath of last night headbasher, tonight is a great example of how this band will be prepared, without any notice, to switch up their sets this Summer, to break the formula and go with whatever flow seems right. Over 40 songs to try out and fit? Nah, over 40 songs and see what you get! The way it should be. Frantic is fantastic (searching for donuts!) a crusher, a killer, an unsubtle sledgehammer. Ahhh how GOOD it feels to need to use those kranium krunching kliches again for these boys (ticktickticktock) and James is on fire with this. Cliff Em All baby, hell yes heís alive in all our hearts, he says right after the song ends, and this is something which he never used to really acknowledge even though it hurt him, never really used to express, even though he felt it. Not anymore. Now he can say it and we can say it too and we can all know it and Cliff can smile and give a thumbs up, that hook finger waving too. This a Jason vein-popper, a true measure of the manís metal. But is it worse post-Jason? Naaaaaaaaaaaaa, donít be silly, in fact itís more fluid Whiplash, a song so dusty that even the dust mites were full and had vacated that vault, is now back to being raw, abrasive, corrosive, and bloody. This is the sort of thing people have waited for for too long, the shedding of inhibitions, the desire to play these old classics again (n.b. must ask them if they were embarrassed to play this before.) Leper Messiah, another old classic and the fun simply has stopped emanating from the stage. Thatís what weíre seeing, thatís what weíre witnessing. A friend pointed out that James doesnít stay in the center, that he moves all over, that they all swap off, that there is no frontman per see, that itís all about everyone. That comes with being happy. Really. And I cannot help and reflect on how long that perhaps they werenít as happy as we all thought, as even they might have thought.

PART 4And how much do we LOVE hearing ‘Hit The Lights’ again? Hearing world famous rock stars SCREAMING ‘no life ‘til leather’ baby YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH, and a screeching Hammett solo, and a rudely healthy Ulrich pounding 25 shades of shit out of that green monster? I’ll tell you how much. A lot a lot a lot a lot a lot!And y’know what else? I kinda like watching Lars grow (back) into a cocky little bastard again up there, grimacing and gesturing before ‘Breadfan’. Somehow it seems right that he should enjoy that, enjoy being the rock star he is, always wanted to be and for a few months back there towards the end of 2001 thought he might never be again. Is this vindication for a man who got hammered by the world because he spoke up against stealing? Yes. And guess what? I don’t care what he, or anybody else says, deep down inside he’s enjoying, no reveling in the thought that he will get the chance to shove it to everyone. Again, I believe that Rob is making him work harder than ever, and I further believe that he loves being worked to fulfill potential, to be as good as he can be. And then to finish with a particularly brutal ‘Battery’? Who dared say they’re too fucking old for that fast, heavy shit? Not me brother...last words of this night to Hetfield“Thank you so much friends, you all kick ass! We’ll see ya around , thank you very much man, take care of yourselves, this is very special, Metallica loves ya, see ya…”Or is to Kirk...“Hey, thank you man, you ru...(the rest drowned out by crowd!)Naaa, must be to Rob...“Hey listen, just wanna say thanks a lot for welcoming me into The Fillmore, into your family and into Metallica…thank you…” (the rest drowned out by yelling).Who the hell am I kidding? It can only belong to one man...“I know a lot of u guys have traveled a long way, thank you, your support and loyalty kept us going, we really appreciate it, thank y....(the rest, again, drowned out by yelling).”Steffan ChiraziSo What! Editor

The boys wrapped up tonight's Fillmore show a few hours ago and, as expected, tore the roof clear off the place. The band continued to throw out a few more surprises in the set. The energy in the venue, both from the band and the crowd, was mind blowing. Setlist has been posted. More details and pix to follow soon.

One down, three to go. Our buddy Steffan Chirazi wrote a pretty good sum up of yesterday's gig. Head over to Metallica.com for all the details. Yesterday's support act was CKY, and James explained how the different support acts were picked. <p><em>- "Each band member got to pick the support act for one night. How fucking awesome is that? CKY was my choice, I am really into their music. They rock!"</em></p> Tonight's support act is Systematic, who did you think picked them? On my way to Fillmore in a few hours...Stay tuned